Organist
Thaddeus Morgan, better known as the Organist, is a male ghost currently haunting the Haunted Mansion. Description Thaddeus Morgan is the grumpy, bitter Organist of the Ballroom. Focused on his music and nothing else, the composer of Grim Grinning Ghosts is only dimly aware that the other Happy Haunts use his organ-playing as a backdrop for their endless partying. He finds the happy-go-lucky, fancy-free denizens of the Mansion to be unbearable loonatics and tries his very best to get them to be more serious, to no avail. Biography Early Life Thaddeus Morgan was born in a wealthy Irish family and was schooled by the very best music teachers money could buy. However, being the youngest son of the family, he found himself almost penniless once both his parents were dead, his older brothers inheriting the lion's share of the family fortune. Desperate to find some place where he could practice his talents, he sailed to America on a steamboat, paying his fee “in kind” by playing for the passengers every evening. Arrival in New Orleans He ended up in New Orleans, where he played successively in a circus and in a cabaret before being noticed by the wealthy Dorian Gracey. Dorian offered Morgan a full-time job as Gracey Manor's organist; indeed, Vincent Gracey had rescued a large pipe organ from a shipwreck in shady circumstances, but had so far been unable to find anyone who could play it decently enough for his high-society parties. Bouncing on the occasion, Thaddeus Morgan played, played as if his life depended on it — party after party, evening after evening, year after year. Madness But as he grew older, he spent more and more time at his work, staying up late at night to try to finish a mysterious, gloomy composition of his that was very much unlike what the Graceys usually asked him to play, which he called The Screaming Song. Some say the mysterious organ was cursed, and allowed its users to devise extraordinary tunes, but only to the price of draining sanity from them. Others say Morgan simply lost his mind in his mad quest to achieve his magnum opus. Others yet say the mysterious psychic Madame Leota, who resided at Gracey Manor around this time, had cursed the unlucky composer for unknown reasons. Whatever the case, after some time, Morgan would no longer talk to anyone or even go to sleep at night — at all times, he remained in front of his organ, playing his accursed song. Death Vincent Beauregard Gracey noticed his employee’s madness and feared for Morgan’s life, as well as for the Graceys' very own sanity, which had been put to considerable trial by the constant echoes of the cursed music. In a desperate effort to free Morgan from his deadly passion, he finally slammed the heavy keyboard shut even as Morgan was still playing it. The music was gone at last — but so were the hands of Thaddeus, who’d never be able to play again, and died of grief a few days later. He was buried in an elaborate crypt in front of the Manor. Afterlife Yet as days passed, people swore they still heard the demented musician’s music playing at night. Only when Vincent himself died did he become able to see the ghost of Thaddeus Morgan — still playing his organ. The other Happy Haunts decided to use this music that they could not stop to accompany a never ending party in the ballroom. As years went by, The Screaming Song (to which the playful ghosts added whimsical lyrics and the title “Grim Grinning Ghosts”) became the anthem of the Haunted Mansion. Morgan, although appreciative of the praise this implies, does not really care, and is as grumpy and gruff as ever to anyone who tries to stop him from playing. In the rare case where he leaves his console, however, he is replaced by Victor Geist, a much less grumpy ghost organist whom he doesn't really get along with. Index Index of Stories Featuring the Organist Origins The Organist is a First-Level Canon Character, as he appears prominently in the ride. His real name, Thaddeus Morgan, originates in the Tumblr Continuity. Category:Characters Database Category:Ghost Category:Male Category:Canon Character Category:Haunted Mansion Ghost